The last week has been very bittersweet for me as I came to the end of my Hasselblad era. I have been using what I consider to be the world’s best camera, the Hasselblad H3D II 39, for the last six years. With it I have produced some of my all time favorite images for my clients as well as for personal work.

Last week, I decided to sell my Hasselblad system on EBay. Now if you don't know, this camera with 3 great lenses cost me close to $40,000 six years ago. When I first bought the H3DII I was completely obsessed with it! I wouldn't leave it at the studio overnight, I had to bring it home and put it next to my bed when I would sleep to make sure it was safe. I was pretty obsessive and over the top! But the H3D II was the camera love of my life! It’s hard to believe it just sold today for four times what I expected to get for it, but four times less than I paid. Soon we are sending it off to it's new home in Las Vegas.

I wouldn't have even considered selling it unless I was sure there was something worthy of replacing my beloved Hassy. I found it in not another $40,000 Hasselblad, but the 10 times less expensive Nikon D800e. The quality of images produced from both cameras are equally as amazing! Yesterday I took both camera systems out and did side by side comparisons using the same focal lengths, apertures and and ISO's. The Hasselblad has the same pixel count on the horizontal axis but more on the height. 39 megapixels compared to 36.5 megapixels. 16 bit depth vs. 14 bit, but the biggest pro to the Nikon D800e is the range of ISO. The Nikon goes all the way up to ISO 12,000 compared to Hasselblad's ISO 800 which I would never shoot at. To shoot the Haselblad above ISO 200 was something I never dared to do because of the intense grain. The images showed very little difference in sharpness when using Nikons best lenses at f8-f11, but the quality of the Nikon image at higher ISO is substantially better. Not to mention, it’s lighter and more compact and better for backpacking! This camera is the best camera ever!

So now I have a new love in my life and am so excited about developing our new relationship. The new era of my camera upgrades has begun again and I’m looking forward to seeing what camera the next 6 years brings me, without suffering a $40,000 loss.

Below are some comparisons I did between the Nikon and Hasselblad. Look and see for yourself!

This is shot with my new Nikon D800E using a 50mm prime 1.8 lens at f10 1/80.

This photo is shot with the Hasselblad H3DII using the 50-110mm 3.5-4.5 lens at f10 1/80

Here is the same image shot at ISO 800 on both cameras zoomed in even more.